Mark Adams is to step down as artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) on Nov. 30 after five years in the role.
“It’s been a real pleasure to ...

Mark Adams is to step down as artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) on Nov. 30 after five years in the role.

“It’s been a real pleasure to work with the team in Edinburgh and help deliver the growth and development of EIFF over the last five festivals and to be instrumental in re-establishing its international profile,” Adams (pictured) said in a statement. “I have decided it is time to move on and look to new and exciting opportunities.”

Adams’ five-year tenure as EIFF artistic director saw overall admissions surge to 70,000 in 2019. His term also saw the introduction of the People’s Premiere, while also providing gala experiences, extending the festival’s reach and delivering immersive cinema experiences for new audiences. On the doc front, the 2019 edition featured a one-on-one interview with British documentarian Nick Broomfield, who was on hand for the EIFF screening of his latest doc, Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, which focuses on the love story between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen.

Rod White, director of programming for EIFF’s parent charity, CMI, will work alongside the existing team in delivering EIFF in 2020, with the festival in Scotland’s capital begins its recruitment process for Adams’ successor next year.

“I’m delighted that Rod has agreed to oversee the curation of the screenings program of the 2020 EIFF,” added Ken Hay, chief executive of EIFF. “Rod has led the programming team at Filmhouse for the past 20 years, delivering a hugely rich and diverse program for an increasingly broad audience, and we can’t wait to see what he has in store for our 74th edition.”

The 74th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival will run June 17 to 28, 2020. The full program, meanwhile, will be announced on May 27, 2020.

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Jillian Morgan is a special reports editor at realscreen with a background in journalism and digital marketing. She joined the publication in 2019 after serving as the assistant editor to trade publications HPAC and On-Site. With a bachelor of journalism from the University of King's College in Halifax, she also works as a freelance writer and fact-checker.